Bottle feeding mechanism



July 13, 1943. MEYER TA v 2,324,312

BOTTLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 20, 1941 2 Shets-Sheec l FIG.1

I INVENTORS GEORGE J. MEYER JOSEPH E CLA SSEN CHARLES STECKL/A/Gjz ATTORNEY July 13, 1943. G. J. MEYER ET AL 2,324,312

I BOTTLE FEEDING MECHANISM 7 Filed Feb. '20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- INVENTORS GEORGE J. MEYER CHARLES STECKLINGJI: JOSEPH F CLASSEN BY o( %w2 ATTORNEY Patented July 13, 1943 2,324,312 BOTTLE FEEDING MECHANISM George J. Meyer, Charles Steckling, Jr., and Joseph F. Classen, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Geo.

J. Meyer Manufacturing Company,

.Cudahy, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application February 20, 1941, Serial No. 379,806

(Cl. 19s 22 .7 Claims.

The present invention relates to feeding mechanism adapted for use in connection with bottlehandllng machines, such as cappers, fillers and labelers, although the invention is also applicable to the feeding of cans and other articles.

A bottle-handling machine, such as a capper, is commonly provided with a traveling carrier having means for holding the upstanding bottles in spaced relation to present the bottles successively to the operation of the machine. It is also common practice to provide the machine with a conveyer for conducting the bottles to the carrier, the successive bottles on the conveyer being usually in abutting or closely spaced relation. The spacing of the bottles on the carrier is ordinarily somewhat greater than the bottle diameter and because of this and other factors it-isnecessary to provide some means for controlling the feed of the bottles to the carrier, so as to suit the bottle spacing or bottle pitch of the carrier. Various mechanisms have heretofore been devised for this purpose, but they have been open to certain objections, such as relatively complicated construction and excessive rubbing and agitation of the bottles.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved form of feeding mechanism which will effect the safe and accurate transfer of bottles to the traveling carrier of a capping machine or other bottle-handling machine, which will minimize rubbing or marking of the outer walls of the bottles, which will reduce agitation or jostling of the bottles, which is adapted for high-speed operation, which will accommodate bottles of different diameter, and which is capable of inexpensive manufacture and easy mounting.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating one specific embodiment of the invention,

Fig. l is a plan view of a bottle-feeding mechanism of the invention as applied to a bottlecapping machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1, but on an enlarged scale and showing the mechanism as it appears at a diflerent point in the cycle of operation;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the bottle-feeding mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 44 of Fig. 3, and showing the parts in the operative position of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken generally along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a top view of a clutch member of the feeding mechanism.

In these drawings, l 0 designates the flat-topped frame of a bottle-handling machine such as a bottle-capping mechanism, not shown. The rotary table has mounted concentrically thereon the usual turret-forming star wheel or spider .which in the present instance-includes upper and others of difierent radii.

lower sections M and intermediate sections IS, the latter being angularly adjustable with respect to the former in order to adjust the effective size of the spaced bottle recesses or pockets of the spider and thus accommodate bottles of different diameter. The bottles, indicated at A, are conducted to the vicinity of the rotary capping table by a conveyer in the form of a'rotary disk or turntable i6, the thin marginal portion of which overlies the marginal portion of the capping table. The rotary table and disk are driven at a suitable speed in any usual manner. The bottles are delivered in serial relation to the outer portion of the conveyer disk by any suitable means not shown, and pass between curved outer and inner guides I1 and it concentric with the disk. The adjacent bottles on the conveyer disk are usually in contiguous relation although not necessarily so. The outer guide is fastened to the machine frame i0, while the inner guide is detachably mounted on a bracket plate I 9 which overlies the conveyer disk and is rigidly secured to the machine frame. In order to accommodate bottles of different diameter the inner guide is either adjustable to different radii or is replaceable by A slotted bracket 20 forms a continuation of the inner guide and is adjustably secured by a bolt 2| to the plate I9. A movable guard 22 is hinged at 23 to the bracket 20 and extends partially around the capper spider. The guard is'urged inwardly by a coiled spring 24 which surrounds a rod 25 pivotally secured to the guard and slidably passing through a stud 26 carried on the plate IS. A collar 21 on the rod adjustably limits the movement of the guard toward the capping spider. The guard 22 serves to center the bottles firmly in the spider recesses or pockets and is yieldable outwardly to form a pressure relief member. After the bottles are capped they are conducted from the rotary capper table by means of a deilector or ejector guide 29.

The end portion of the outer arcuate guide I! adjacent to the capper spider is secured to the upright portion of a bracket 29 bolted to the machine table. The bracket 29 includes spaced upper and lower horizontal guide extensions 39 and ii which overlie the rotary capper table and have their ends adjacent to the path of travel of the periphery of the capper spider.

In order to control the delivery of the bottles to the recesses of the capper spider there is provided a timing and impelling mechanism which includes a rotatable member, preferably in the form of a star wheel with spaced upper and lower sections 32 and 93 each having radially extending arms 34, the star wheel being secured to a vertical shaft 96 journalled in the bracket extensions 39 and ti. The star wheel sections are ro- V tatable between these bracket extensions and each section preferably has four arms. The star wheel is intermittently rotatable through 90 intervals by means hereinafter described and is stopped at the end of each interval by an end portion of a latch or stop bar 98 which is slidably mounted in the bracket 29, the stop bar extending approximately parallel to the end portion of the outer guide H. In the stopped position ofthe star wheel one arm thereof extends into the path of the bottles on the conveyer disk, so as to momentarily stop the travel of these bottles. The stop bar is urged to stopping position by a coiled tension spring 31 which at one end is secured to an upstanding pin 38 on the bracket 29 and at the other end is secured to a similar pin 39 carried by spaced upper and lower ears 40 and 4| formed on the stop bar. A rock lever 42 is pivoted on a vertical pin 43 secured to the machine table, and its free end is connected by a link 44 to the pin 39 of the stop bar, the link extending between the ears 40 and 4| of the stop bar. A slotted channeled plate 45 fits over the upper edge of the rock lever 42 and is secured to this lever in longitudinally adjusted relation by screws 46. The rock lever extends in a generally tangential direction with respect to the capper spider, thus facilitating adjustment of the timing of the lever. A roller 41 is secured to the plate by a vertical pivot bolt 48 and is adapted to be engaged by the teeth or prongs of the upper section l4 of the rotatable capper spider, so as to rock the lever 42 at regular intervals and thus reciprocate the stop bar 38, the spider forming a cam for this purpose. As each arm of the spider section displaces the roller 41, the lever 42 is swung outwardly to retract, the stop bar from the path of the timing star wheel arms 34 and thus permit rotation of the star wheel and passage of the foremost bottle past the star wheel and toward the spider under the urge of the rotating conveyer disk It.

In order to facilitate the transfer of the bottles to the rotary capper table and to insure safe and accurate operation, means are provided for utilizing the star wheel not only as a timing device but also as an impelling member for the bottles. A one-way clutch is mounted on the star wheel shaft 35 and comprises a pair of upper and lower ratchet-type clutch members 49 and 60. The lower clutch member, 50, is fast on the shaft while the upper clutch member is loose and axially slidable on the shaft and is urged by gravity against the lower clutch member.

The upper clutch member is provided with an upwardly and laterally opening socket 5| at a distance from the shaft axis and adapted to receive the ball end 52 of a link 53, the other end of the link being pivotally secured to an upper extension 94 of the slide bar 36. The ball end of the link has a short downwardly projecting stem 55 loosely fitting in an opening 56 formed in the upper clutch member. A split clamp collar 51 is screw-threaded onto the reduced upper end of the upper clutch member 49 and confine the ball end of the link in its socket. A stop collar I9 is secured to the upper end of the star wheel shaft 39 to limit the upward sliding movement of the upper clutch member. By the operating connection above described, the return spring 91 for the stop bar will turn the timing star wheel through a part of a revolution during the movement of the stop bar toward its stopping position, the rotation of the star wheel being limited by the stop bar and the movement of the stop bar being limited by the stoppage of the star wheel. The peripheral speed of the clutch-driven star wheel is somewhat greater than that of the conveyer disk. As the driving force on the star wheel is furnished by the spring 31, the bottles will be smoothly accelerated and no damage will occur to the mechanism and bottles in the event that the rotation of the star wheel is accidentally blocked.

In operation, the upstanding bottles A are deposited on the conveyer disk It and are carried by the peripheral portions thereof toward the timing star wheel 32, 33, The bottles on the conveyer disk are arranged in a single file or procession between the guide members i1 and it, the successive bottles being normally in contact with each other. According to one method of operation the conveyer disk and capper table are rotated at approximately equal peripheral speeds, and the foremost bottle on the conveyer disk is brought to a standstill against the projecting arm of the momentarily blocked timing star wheel 32, 33, thus momentarily stopping the travel of the sucession of bottles. As the carrier table ii rotates from the position of Fig. 1, the lever 42 is swung outwardly to the position seen in Fig. 2 by one of the spider projections engaging the roller 41 of the lever, thus withdrawing the sliding stop bar 36 from its stopping position so that the timing star wheel is free to turn under the urge of the foremost bottle. This outward movement of the actuating lever also turns the upper clutch member 49 in retrograde direction through an angle of slightly more than by means of the connecting linkage, thereby placing this clutch member in readiness to turn the timing star wheel'in bottle-impelling 'direction. As the roller of the lever 42 enters the succeeding spider recess under urge of the spring 31, the spring turns the upper clutch member in advancing direction so as to impel the foremost bottle into the adjacent recess or pocket of the spider, this bottle being advanced from its stopped position in the same general direction that it previously approached the timing star wheel. The timing star wheel serves to space the battles the required distance to suit the chordal pitch of the capper spider. During the bottle-impelling travel of the start wheel, the sliding stop bar 38 moves toward is stopping position, so as to limit. the travel of the timing start to a part of a revolution, this travel being 90 in the case of the four-armed star wheel shown in the drawings. The bottle deposited in the recess of the capper spider is subsequently held therein by the guard 22 and is capped in any usual manner, the bottle being thereafter re moved from the spider by the deflector guide 28. After the timing star wheel reaches its blocked position the next bottle on the conveyer disk is brought against the then projecting arm of the star wheel and the cycle of operation is repeated.

According to a modified method of operation, the bottles are so spaced on the conveyer disk, or the speed of the conveyer disk is so selected, that the foremost bottle thereon will reach the timing star wheel shortly after the sliding stop is withdrawn from its blocking position. The oncoming bottle will then be free to turn the star wheel through a small angle before the star wheel is impelled through the rest of its 90 travel by the spring-operated clutch. With this method of operation the bottles on the conveyer. disk are not stopped by thetiming star wheel, but travel continuously, the foremost bottle being accelerated into the capping spider by the star wheel. Agitation of the bottles is minimized, and there is but very little relative sliding movement .between the conveyer disk and the bottles, thus avoiding abrasion and marking of the bottles and reducing power requirements. Furthermore, the peripheral speed of the conveyer disk is considerably less than that of the rotary capper table. If for any reason the bottles on the conveyer disk should be momentarily advanced, as by manually pushing these bottles, the star wheel arms 34 would then act as stops for preventing premature feeding of the bottles to the capping table. If the speed of the conveyer disk is slightly increased, the machine will operate in accordance with the first method hereinbefore described, the bottles being then momentarily stopped by the intermittently rotatable timing star wheel, and being advanced onto the capping table at a speed greater than the peripheral speed of the conveyer disk. However, the speed of the conveyer disk can still be somewhat slower than that of the capper table, as the timing star wheel will accelerate the bottles to properly enter them into the spaced notches of the capper spider.

The construction of the feeding mechanism permits the timing star wheel to be of relatively small diameter and to have a chordal pitch which is considerably shorter than the chordal pitch of the capper spider. The star wheel is here shown to be actuated by the capper spider to provide synchronous operation in a relatively simple.

manner, but it willbe obvious that any convenient cyclically operating part of the machine can be used for this purpose. It will also be obvious that the feeding mechanism of the invention is applicable for use with bottle-handling machines having the well known belt-type of bottle carrier, instead of the rotary type illustrated.

Whatwe claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Article feeding apparatus comprising means for conducting a succession of articles in a path, a rotatable star wheel arranged adjacent to said path and having article-engaging arms extending successively into said path, means for intermittently restraining the rotation of said star wheel, driving means for intermittently rotating said star wheel in feeding direction to impel the successive articles, and reciprocatory actuating means for said restraining and driving means and including a return spring for rotating said star wheel in article-impelling direction and for limiting the impelling pressure on the articles.

2. Article feeding apparatus comprising means for conducting a succession of articles in a path, a rotatable star wheel arranged adjacent to said path and having article-engaging arms adapted to extend successively into said path for stopping and impelling the articles, a releasable latch member for intermittently restraining the rotation of said star wheel, a clutch device for intermittently rotating said star wheel in feeding direction to impel the successive articles, and reciprocatory actuating means for said latch member and clutch device and including a return spring acting on said clutch device for rotating said star wheel in article-impelling direction and for limiting the impelling pressure on the articles, said spring having a connection with said latch member to urge said latch member to its latching position on the impelling stroke.

3. Article feeding .mechanism comprising a movable article carrier an article-supporting conveyer for conducting a succession of articles in a path toward said carrier, a rotatable star wheel having arms adapted to extend successively into said path adjacent to said carrier, means for intermittently restraining the rotation of said star wheel to hold said star wheel arms successively in said path for stopping forward movement of said articles, each arm being movable on an article-impelling stroke to a position for stopping the succeeding articles, and means for intermittently rotating said star wheel to impel the successive articles in spaced relation, the path of the articles when impelled by said star wheel from their stopping position at said star wheel being substantially in the same direction in which the articles approach their stopping position.

4. Article 'feeding mechanism comprising means for conducting a succession of articles in a path, a rotatable star wheel having arms adapted to extend successively into said path, means for intermittently restraining the rotation of said star wheel to hold said star wheel arms successively in said path for preventing forward movement of said articles, and means for intermittently rotating said star wheel to impel the successive articles in spaced relation, said star wheel being free at intervals from the action of both said restraining and driving means and in said intervals being free to rotate under the urge of the adjacent article.

5. Article feeding mechanism comprising a movable carrier, a conveyer for conducting a succession of articles in a path toward said carrier, an intermittently rotatable member having successively effective radial arms adapted to extend into said path for first stopping the successive articles and then impelling said articles to said carrier in spaced relation, each arm being movable on an article-impelling stroke to a position for stopping the succeeding articles, and means for operating said rotatable member in synchronism with said carrier, the path of the articles when impelled by said rotatable member from their stopping position at said rotatable member being substantially in the same direction in which the articles approach their stopping position.

6. In a bottle handling machine and the like, the combination, with a rotary carrier table adapted to receive bottles thereon in spaced relation, and a rotary conveyer disk adapted to conduct a. succession of bottles in a path toward said carrier table, of a rotatable star wheel adjacent to said path and having successively eilective radial arms adapted to extend transversely into said path, positively acting means for intermittently restraining the rotation of said star wheel whereby the star wheel arm extending into said path is adapted to form a stop for the oncoming bottle,-and means for intermittently rotating said star wheel to bring the star wheel arms successively into bottle-stopping position and during said last-named movement to impel said 10 bottles in spaced relation to said rotary carrier table, the path of the bottles when impelled by said star wheel from their stopping position at said star wheel being substantially in the same direction in which the bottles approach their stopping position.

7. Article feeding mechanism comprising a rotatable carrier having spaced article-receiving said carrier, an intermittently rotatable star wheel having successively eiiective arms adapted to extend into said path for impelling said articles in spaced relation into said pockets, and means for eilecting intermittent rotation of said star wheel in synchronism with said carrier including an oscillatory lever extending in a generally tangential direetionwith respect to said rotatable carrier and adapted to be displaced by said carrier abutments, said lever having an actuating part engageable with said abutments and shiitable to diilerent distances from the axis of is said lever to adjust the timing oi said star wheel.

GEORGE J. IMEYER. CHARLES S'I'ECKLI'NG, Jit. JOSEPH F. CLASSEN. 

